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Researchers used data from almost four decades, from 1979 to 2016, to find that the destructive power and duration of tropical cyclones had dramatically risen. Stronger landfalling cyclones lasted longer and tracked further inland.
The study was done by researchers from the Shenzhen Institute of Meteorological Innovation, and the Chinese University of Hong Kong. It was published in Frontiers in Earth Science. It found that tropical storms now last for between two and nine hours and travel an average of 100km (62 miles) further inland, compared to four decades ago.
The study examined cyclones in east and southeast Asia, and found that Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam, and the southern China region were the most affected between 1979 and 2016.
Researchers also discovered that the average wind speed at landfall in the Asian inland regions could increase up to two meters per second or 5 miles per an hour by the end century. A cyclone can cause much more destruction if it has small increases in its top winds speeds.
The average cyclone was suggested by the study. The time will be approximately 5 hours longer, and they will travel 92km (57 miles), further inland. This will almost double their destructive power.
The most dangerous natural disasters are tropical cyclones. They can cause flooding, severe winds, and storm surge. These cyclones have accounted for nearly 780,000 deaths globally over the past 50 year and caused economic losses of around $1.4Billion.
In September 2021, remnants of Hurricane Ida wrought torrential rains and flash flooding in New York City, resulting in at least 50 deaths.
“Both disasters caused enormous economic and human losses,” Dr Chi-Yung Tam, a researcher at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, stated.
Tam and his fellow colleagues call for more action to reduce the planet-warming greenhouse gas emission and increase disaster preparedness.
Intensifying storms
Many studies show that warmer ocean temperatures are intensifying the effects of tropical cyclones.
A cyclone that intensifies at landfall will travel further inland, increasing its destructive power.
Global warming, likely caused by humans, is likely to increase the severity and frequency of storms. However natural weather cycles and events can also help to strengthen or weaken the intensity and frequency.
Tam said that numerical models predict that the climate crises “will likely continue to the increasing trend of landfalling typhoons, and their impacts upon inland regions.”
He said that “More severe storm-related disasters could be occurring in the future in the Asian inland regions as a result the climate crisis.”
